US trial of alleged Gambian 'death squad' member postponed

The US trial on torture charges of a Gambian man who was allegedly a member of a notorious death squad known as the "Junglers" has been postponed at the last minute.

Michael Sang Correa, 45, a former captain in the Gambian military, was scheduled to go on trial in a federal court in Denver, Colorado, on Monday.

But the presiding judge granted a defense motion on Wednesday to delay the trial to allow Correa's attorneys to travel to The Gambia to collect videotaped depositions from two witnesses.

A new trial date has not been set. It is not expected to be held until next year.

Correa was indicted in June 2020 and faces six counts of inflicting torture and one count of conspiracy to commit torture. Each count is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

He is being tried in the United States for crimes committed in his home country under what is known as universal jurisdiction, which allows for prosecution of torture, genocide and war crimes.

According to Human Rights Watch and Trial International, Correa's torture trial is just the third of its kind to be held in the United States and the first involving a non-US citizen.

Correa entered the United States in 2016 to work as a bodyguard for Gambia's vice president, who was visiting the United Nations.

He stayed in the country and moved to Denver at some point after Gambian dictator Yahya Jammeh, who ruled the country with an iron fist from 1994 to 2017, was voted out of office.

Correa was arrested by US authorities in September 2019, initially for overstaying his visa.

According to the indictment, Correa joined the Junglers in 2004.

The paramilitary unit operated outside the Gambian army's chain of command, taking orders directly from Jammeh, and has been accused by watchdog groups of carrying out widespread human rights violations.

In 2006, the indictment says, Jammeh's government learned of a plan to overthrow him and arrested a number of suspected coup plotters.

The prisoners were taken to Mile 2 Prison and the National Intelligence Agency headquarters, where Correa and others allegedly tortured them to coerce confessions.

Some of the prisoners had molten plastic or acid dripped on their bodies while others were brutally beaten and subjected to electric shocks.

Another member of the Junglers, Bai Lowe, was sentenced to life in prison in Germany in November after being convicted of crimes against humanity, murder and attempted murder.

A Swiss court in May sentenced Gambian ex-interior minister Ousman Sonko to 20 years in prison for crimes against humanity committed under the Jammeh regime.

Victims of the Junglers included an AFP correspondent, Deyda Hydara, who was gunned down in his car on the outskirts of Gambia's capital Banjul on December 16, 2004.